Media discriminates between black and white athletes

The fact cannot be denied that media affects and moulds the thought process of human beings, and a recent study has proved that there is racial stereotyping of athletes by it.

In a research done by University of Missouri School of Journalism under the guidance of Professor Cynthia Frisby, it was found that media stories on African-American athletes focused primarily on criminal actions, while stories about white athletes were overwhelmingly positive.

For her study, the researcher examined 155 news articles about male athletes from online and print news sources to determine the theme of each story.

The research concluded that more stories were written about white athletes than black athletes and over 66 per cent of the crime stories involved black athletes, while only 22 per cent involved white athletes.

Frisby said that true cultural sensitivity required the eradication of racial and ethnic stereotyping and thus journalists and reporters must reflect on how their own unfounded beliefs about race differences in sports likely contribute to the stereotyping of black athletes as engaged in more criminal activity and innately physically gifted yet lacking in intelligence and strong work ethics.

She added that not only does negative media coverage serve to legitimise social power inequalities, but also it was likely to undermine black athletes' achievements and contribute to stereotype threat.

The study is published in Frisby's book, How You See Me, How You Don't.